Session C3: Policy Shift In Reviving Migratory Fish Stocks - Examples From RESTORE Life+

Abstract: Migratory fish need free passage but also adequate habitats for reproduction. Countless stocks of salmon and other species have vanished in European rivers through dam construction, but there are also encouraging examples of bringing them back. Contrary aims like increasing hydro power as renewable energy is a threat in many pristine rivers. Migratory fish with their several advantages for tourism and other ecosystem services need to be considered in all kind of river projects. European Centre for River Restoration ECRR initiated the Life+ project RESTORE to encourage best practices of river restoration, including measures for migratory fish. A database of river restoration cases, River Wiki was created in the project. All good cases contributing fish migration in greater Europe should exist in the River Wiki. Latest cases include not only fish passes or removal of obstacles, but also measures for restoration or construction of spawning and rearing sites and consideration of downstream migration. Defining environmental flows as basis for natural reproduction is more and more considered. A holistic approach, combining several river restoration measures in a large watercourse is the future river restoration. In the River Wiki large river projects can be described, showing also individual projects like fish passes, as parts of it. The River Wiki is still in a developing phase, as the coverage of existing cases is good only in UK and some parts of Southern and Northern Europe. From central Europe there are excellent cases of fish migration but numerous cases are still lacking. It would be essential to get good cases from Eastern Europe, where a lot of power plant construction is still ongoing. It would be important to show best practices for maintaining river continuity in countries where the biggest threats are. ECRR delivers advice how new cases can be added in the River Wiki